Drapetes.| THYMELH ACER. 617 
back, not prominently nerved, apex and margins ciliate. Flowers 
small, polygamo-dicecious, solitary or 2-3 together at the tips of 
the branches. Male perianth 4-4 in. long, broadly funnel-shaped 
or almost campanulate ; lobes about as long as the tube, oblong- 
ovate, each with 2 glands at the base. Stamens with slender 
filaments ; anthers almost reaching the top of the lobes. Ovary 
small, with a very short style. Female perianth (or hermaphro- 
dite) smaller and rather broader, ~,-;4in. long. Anthers very 
small, usually empty, on very short filaments. Ovary ciliate at 
the top; style long, stout; stigma capitate, exserted. — Handb. 
N.Z. Fl. 246. D. muscosa, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 223 (not 
Lam.). Kelleria Dieffenbachii var. Lyallii, Meisn. in D.C. Prodr. 
xiv. 566. 
SoutH Isntanp: Nelson—Wairau Gorge, 7. F’. C.; Mount Owen, 7. F. C.; 
Waiau Valley, Travers. Canterbury—Southern Alps, Sinclair and Haast, 
Armstrong. Otago—Lake district, Hector and Buchanan! Dunstan Moun- 
tains, Hector Mountains, Mount Pisa, Mount Cardrona, &c., Petrie! SrewarRtT 
IstanD: Lyall, Kirk! 4000-6500 ft. December—March. 
A well-marked species, at once recognised by the compact habit, small 
ovate-oblong or ovate-lanceolate leaves, and broad almost campanulate perianth. 
Orpver LXXII. LORANTHACEA. 
Parasitic shrubs. Leaves opposite or alfernate, simple and 
entire, coriaceous, sometimes reduced to scales or wanting ; stipules 
absent. Flowers regular, hermaphrodite or unisexual, axillary or 
terminal, solitary or in racemes or spikes or fascicles, usually with a 
bract on each pedicel and 2 bracteoles below each flower. Perianth 
double, outer adnate to the ovary, limb short or barely evident, 
truncate or 4—6-toothed ; inner 3-6-lobed, lobes free or united into 
a tube, valvate. Stamens as many as the divisions of the perianth, 
usually inserted on them ; filaments short or long; anthers introrse, 
2-celled. Ovary inferior, l-celled; style short or long; stigma 
simple; ovule solitary, erect, adnate to the walls of the ovary. 
Fruit a 1-seeded berry or drupe, pericarp usually viscid. Seed 
generally albuminous ; embryo straight, axile, radicle superior. 
An order comprising 13 genera and about 500 species, chiefly found in the 
tropical or warm regions of both hemispheres, with comparatively few species in 
the temperate zones. The order has no important. properties or economic value, 
and the common mistletoe is the only species of any repute. Of the 3 New 
Zealand genera, Tupeia is endemic ; the remaining two are widely distributed in 
both temperate and tropical climates. 
Leafy. Flowers hermaphrodite. Perianth double. An- 
thers opening lengthwise 3 Se st 
Leafy. Flowers dicecious. Perianth single. Anthers on 
slender filaments, opening lengthwise a ; 
The New Zealand species leafless. Flowers dicecious. 
Perianth single Anthers sessile, opening by several 
pores ic dt0 50 565 SO sie NAO 
1. LORANTHUS. 
2. TUPEIA. 
